A few of my of favorite things... Lego Mindstorms, Microsoft Robotics Studio and Xbox 360 (controller)

Coding4Fun - Microsoft Robotics Studio and Lego Mindstorms NXT

"In this article, Brian Peek will demonstrate how to use Microsoft Robotics Studio to control the Lego Mindstorms NXT kit.  A simple remote-controlled robot will be built and controlled using C# and the MSRS Visual Programming Language (VPL).

The Lego Mindstorms NXT kit is an amazing upgrade to the original Lego Mindstorms product.  While the building blocks are the traditional plastic stud blocks everyone is used to, the new construction parts allow for some very complex designs.  Additionally, Microsoft Robotics Studio supports the Lego NXT kit right out of the box, so it's quite easy to get up and going using MSRS with the Lego kit to start coding a robot in C# or VB.NET.  With that in mind, this article will demonstrate how to use MSRS with the simple TriBot robot that can be easily built using the instructions included in the Lego NXT kit.

...

We have created a robot using Lego NXT and can control it with an Xbox 360 controller via Microsoft Robotics Studio by coding a service in C#, VB or VPL.  As you can see, even a non-experienced coder can develop a MSRS service using the VPL language.  If one requires more power and flexibility, a service can be coded directly in C#, or a VPL service can be converted to a C# project and continued."

Cool...

Now I wonder if I can sell my wife on the fact that I NEED the Lego Mindstorms NXT for... um... career building development activities? ;)